Trapped between a Demon and a Dragon

Chapter 16

"Hey, hey! It's okay." The mattress dips as Misha perches on the edge of the bed. His arm slides across her back and gently pulls Harper to his side. "I know you are scared but we'll figure it out. I promise you from now on I'll be here to keep you safe."

Her blood boils with anger that strengthens with every pass of Misha's hand down her spine. "Oh yes, because you've done a great job of that in the past," she snarls as she shrugs off his arm.

"I'm sorry," he snaps back. His shoulders roll, and, if she looks closely, Harper can see the shadow of his wings on the back wall. "I really am. I don't know how many times you want me to repeat that. But unless your demon hoard knows how to time travel, I can't change what I did," He continues, his voice breaking as his hands come up to tap on his chest. "And if my actions resulted in saving your life, then I don't regret them."

"I'm a grown ass woman in her thirties, Misha. I don't need you to protect me anymore. I am more than capable of taking care of myself!"

"Clearly not if you are entangling yourself with demons and nearly dying daily. Hell, for all you know the demons are the ones who are out to get you and this whole relationship is just a way to lure you in."

As soon as the words slip out of his mouth, the dragon knows he made a mistake. He immediately starts apologizing to Harper, but she didn't hear any of it.

A strange pressure forms in the back of her head, and a feeling of emptiness washes over her. Her vision tunnels and the sounds around her are muffled. All the pain and soreness is gone, but so is every emotion that she felt just moments before. It is as though her body is no longer hers, and she is just there to observe.

Her limbs twitch and ache with the need to move, and this urge to leave quickly consumes her until Harper finds herself bringing her arms up to Misha's shoulders. Her palms cover his collar bones and her elbows are tucked close to her body while her own shoulders pull back.

Misha falters for a moment, before letting a soft smile settle on his lips. "Hey, you back with me? You scared me there for a minute."

Harper feels her shoulders moving forward and her arms straightening as she shoves Misha off of the bed. She vaguely notices the look of shock and hurt that crosses his face as her ex falls backwards towards the floor, but Harper ignores it, too busy crawling over the footboard and staggers out the door into the hall.

Stepping into the hallway, Harper feels the pressure in her brain build as her skin crawls with the urge to run. The lights seem to dim and the walls darken, mimicking the hallway in her dream. Phantom fingers wrap around her wrist, causing her breathing to speed up. She can hear Misha struggling to detangle himself from the chair and blankets that trapped him when he fell, and something inside of her tells Harper that she cannot let him catch her. So she forces herself to move forward.

Clutching onto the railing, Harper trips and stumbles down the stairs. Multiple times her legs strike the sides of the stairs with enough force to bruise, but Harper doesn't notice it. The only thought on her mind is "escape".

Her legs tremble as she catches sight of the living room where Lily is floating over the sofa, looking distressed. Usually seeing the tears running down the ghost's cheeks would trigger a wave of sadness in Harper, but as she takes in the sight of her best friend sobbing, all that she feels is a sense of numbness. As she reaches the bottom landing of the stairs, the patio doors located in her kitchen enter her field of vision, and the need to leave the house overwhelms her.

She forces herself to let go of the railing and starts to cross the living room to reach the kitchen. Her lumbering must have caught Lily's attention because the ghost flies over to Harper and starts talking to her but none of the undead girl's words penetrate the fog that filled her head.